I went into We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves absolutely blind. The blurb hinted towards it being a family drama of sorts, and it's... not wrong.  

The story surrounds Rosemary Cooke, who retrospectively tells the story of her life as a child, and as a college student, before rounding up where she is at the end. Growing up, Rosemary was exceedingly chatty, and had a sister her age, as well as an older brother. In college, she doesn't say very much and those around her do not even know she has any siblings as they've been missing from her life for many years at that point. 

My spoiler-free thoughts: This book was absolutely heartbreaking and overall quite sad. The entire Cooke family goes through a massive change in their lives around the point Rosemary is 5 years old. Each member of the family tackles this loss different which also all significantly impact one another. There is rebellion, subdual, depression, alcoholism... with some outcomes ending better than others. 

Further slightly spoiler-y thoughts ahead:

The sister, Fern, is a chimpanzee. This adds an entire different layer and dynamic to the story. I am personally very sensitive to animal experimentation and cruelty and I found it very difficult to read at moments. It also makes the Cookes' family dynamic and issues even more complicated with this backdrop of scientific experimentation on both Fern, Rosemary, and in extension the rest of the Cooke family. That being said, it is this aspect of the story that makes it so unique and the book a very worthwhile and important read.

As for Fowler's writing, the book flowed really well between the different timelines, choosing to unveil things in the right moments to both clarify things and also raise a million more questions. There are humourous moments which help break up how deeply sad and difficult this book can be. It is grounded in our real world enough to make an even greater impact on the reader because you know you cannot dismiss the book as entirely fictional when it becomes almost too difficult to read. 

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to read something emotional, beautiful, and absolutely heartbreaking.